Report highlights the impact of fires on biodiversity in Brazil in the first half of 2023

In the first half of 2023, fires ravaged 2.15 million hectares across Brazil, marking a one percent decrease from the same period in 2022, as outlined by MapBiomas, a collaborative network of civil society organizations.

MapBiomas’ report reveals that the Amazon was most affected, with 1.45 million hectares, or 68% of the country’s total burned area, impacted during this period.

The Cerrado followed, recording damage to 639,000 hectares, accounting for 30% of the total burned area, a 2% increase from 2022.

The report clarifies that the Cerrado’s burn area is consistent with recent years’ averages, highlighting the usage of prescribed burning as part of the Integrated Fire Management forest fire prevention strategy.

As the dry season in the biome just starts, June’s burn area was larger than previous months, with a potential escalation due to the anticipated El Niño phenomenon.

Among the first half’s burn area, 84% was native vegetation, mostly grasslands, while pastures comprised 8.5% of the total.

The Atlantic Forest (10,220 hectares) and the Pantanal (13,000 hectares) recorded the smallest burn areas in the past five years.

There was a continuous decline in the Caatinga with 818 hectares affected, while the Pampa saw 7,000 hectares burned.

The report also highlights that almost half of the burn area was concentrated in the Amazonian state of Roraima, with one million hectares affected.

The states of Mato Grosso and Tocantins followed, with 258,000 and 254,000 hectares respectively. These three states represented 82% of the total burn area for the first half of the year.

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